1. Field
The present invention relates to a blower, and, more particularly, to a blower having a divergence guide portion to reduce flow loss and discharge noise, and an air conditioner having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A blower is a device to generate air flow, and is used in a variety of appliances such as air conditioners, air purifiers, cleaners, refrigerators, etc.
A conventional blower includes a cylindrical scroll casing and a centrifugal fan received in the scroll casing. The scroll casing is formed, at opposite positions thereof, with two suction holes, respectively. A discharge hole is formed in a tangential direction of the scroll casing.
The above-described blower operates on the following principle. If the centrifugal fan is operated by a motor, surrounding air around the blower is suctioned by a suction force of the centrifugal fan through both the suction holes. In this case, the surrounding air having passed through the suction holes arranged at opposite positions of the blower creates individually-suctioned air streams. These suctioned air streams are discharged in a radial direction of the centrifugal fan, and thereafter, flow to a discharge hole along an inner circumference of the scroll casing to be discharged to the outside of the blower.
The above-described blower is called a double-suction-type blower because air is suctioned through the respective suction holes provided at opposite sides of the centrifugal fan. The double-suction-type blower is advantageous in view of a larger blowing capacity, as compared to a blower designed to suction air unidirectionally.
However, while flowing to the discharge hole after passing through the centrifugal fan, the individual air streams suctioned through both the suction holes are liable to collide and be mixed with each other by an inertial force thereof toward the center of the blower. Therefore, the above-described conventional blower undergoes serious flow loss and discharge noise.
To prevent the collision and mixing of air streams, Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2003-0072949 discloses a blower, which includes a partition to divide an entire space between a scroll casing and a centrifugal fan to isolate air streams suctioned through both suction holes arranged at opposite positions of the blower from each other.
However, the blower disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2003-0072949 has a problem in that the air streams having passed through the centrifugal fan, collide with the partition, thus still causing serious flow loss and discharge noise.
Further, the above-described blower including the partition requires a troublesome fabrication process. Specifically, when the blower is fabricated via injection molding, an insert having a complicated configuration is necessary. Also, when the blower is fabricated via pressing, an additional welding process is necessary.